Saturday, June 24, 2006

It was a good day yesterday. I had my thyroid scan, and the doctor told me that it came back "totally negative". So that's good news. I assume I'll continue to be monitored, but this was a big deal. I'm really happy that it's behind us and that it was the right result.

I spent the afternoon at Fenway Park for The Great Fenway Park Writers Series. As I mentioned in my last entry, the speakers were Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione and former southpaw pitcher Bill Lee. Joe talked about his book, Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw it on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox. Joe was interesting enough, but the Spaceman absolutely stole the show. He talked a bit about his book, Have Glove, Will Travel: Adventures of a Baseball Vagabond, but ranged all over the place on subjects as diverse as Buckminister Fuller, Graig Nettles ("I have his baseball card in my wallet; the view and the smell never get any better for him), Kurt Vonnegut, Ozzie Guillen (he felt compelled to say the word "faggot" at least a half-dozen times) and global warming. He just goes off on a stream of consciousness and it is both hysterically funny and thought provoking. I could have listened to him for hours.

The cost of the event included lunch and both books. Joe Castig signed his with his catch phrase "Can you believe it?" Lee signed his "Bill Lee Earth 2006", in case you were confused about which planet he was from. There were also a few VIPs in attendance. Former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mike Dukakis was there, along with radio personality Dick Flavin. The Sox were represented by Vice-Chairman Les Otten and VP of Public Affairs Dr. Charles Steinberg. I wasn't far from Steinberg, who was laughing his ass off at every politically incorrect thing Lee said.

I went home and joined up with the family. We made a stop at the open house for the kids camp. This place is really nice - I wish I was going to camp this summer. Then we headed off to McCoy Stadium for the Pawsox game.

It was the 25th anniversary of The Longest Game in professional baseball history, a 33 inning affair between the Pawsox and the Rochester Red Wings in 1981. At that point in time, I went to practically every Pawsox game, so I had great memories of all the players the Pawsox introduced last night. The guys who had great major league careers included Bruce Hurst, Marty Barrett and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. I was actually more thrilled to see some of my boyhood heroes like Roger Lafrancois, Ed Jurak, Chico Walker and Sam Bowen. They brought back such great memories of more carefree days.

Unfortunately, the game didn't live up to the pregame ceremony. Abe Alvarez got knocked around for eight runs in 3 and 2/3 innings, including home runs to the first two batters in the game. The Columbus Clippers never looked back and won the game 10-2.

Today, Big Papi did it yet again, as he hit a walkoff homer in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Phillies 5-3. When he got up there with a man on base I just had a feeling he was going to do something. That's the Sox 8th in a row, all against National League opponents.

One last note: I'm watching the Braves-Devil Rays game on TBS, and the D-Rays are having a throwback jersey night. The Braves are wearing their hideous '70s/'80s uniforms. The first thing I thought when I saw what they were wearing was "They haven't been this bad since they were last wearing these uniforms." The Braves are currently in last place, 15 games behind the Mets.